Hamlet, A Tragedy in Three Rings
Thu Sep 29, 2022 - Sat Oct 8, 2022
Early in the 1920s, the Imperial Circus has just returned to its winter home at Elsinore, Florida. Their recent tour has been marked by tragedy. Old Hamlet, the owner and leader (and Ringmaster) passed away midway through the tour. His wife, Gertrude, shockingly married Old Hamlet’s brother – Claudius – before the circus had even finished the tour. Her son, Hamlet, named after his father, is devastated. Upon their return, Claudius uses Hamlet’s grief to usurp his inheritance and become the new leader and Ringmaster. Hamlet, deeply depressed, has all but destroyed his relationship with another performer, the trapeze artist Ophelia. Ophelia’s mother (Pollonia) and brother (Laertes), both advise her to abandon her love for Hamlet. One night, Hamlet’s friend Horatio and several of the laborers tell him his father’s ghost has been haunting the Big Top. Hamlet meets his father’s ghost who tells him that his brother Claudius murdered him to get control of the circus and to claim Gertrude. He demands that Hamlet avenge his murder. What follows is Hamlet’s descent into madness (or is he faking it?), more murder, plots within plots, a play within a play, and a disastrous fight that ends with four bodies littering the stage.
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